


The Wonder Of Medicine

by Accidental_Intentions (orphan_account)



Category: Arrested Development
Genre: Abandonment, Bipolar Disorder, Bipolar Gob Bluth, Biting, Codependency, Drug Use, Drug Withdrawal, Dysfunctional Family, Heavy Angst, Hospitals, M/M, Maybe Too Real, Medical Trauma, Mental Health Issues, My First Work in This Fandom, Oral Sex, Promiscuity, Social Commentary, Unhealthy Relationships, Yeah It's Too Real, good guy Michael, mention of suicide, my apologies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-10 00:31:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18649264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Accidental_Intentions
Summary: After Michael rescues Gob from Skid Row, Tony is so grateful that he decides he needs Gob after all. Or at least once more before getting back on the road again.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, I just rejoined the site after getting over the idea that writing explicit stuff was wrong. I've already been looking at the AD works as a much-needed distraction, and I'm finding that every observation I've had of the show seems to have its own category already. So, sorry I'm late in the game here, but I thought the Skid Row thing in California's mental health system was worth a shot in including. I grew up in a big city with the illness in question, so the first-hand experiences of systemic dysfunction are pretty familiar. Writing is a therapeutic exercise that I literally need, so try and bear with me. And, yes, Gob is a total slut and we love him for it. Thanks. ;-)

Gob wasn't himself since Michael found him abandoned on Skid Row. He had been sitting in nothing but a hospital gown and socks, his knees clung to his chest, trying to avoid the screaming and fighting among the other patients left there with him. Even Michael lost his usual stoicism once he had Gob in the satellite mapping car, holding Gob's hand like a treasured charm and crying enough for both of them. Gob just sat there, almost catatonic, not saying a word to anybody until Michael had him in a warm bath back home and told him he was safe.

"You sure they're not following us?" Gob said, his eyes still wide. He was shivering despite the hot water and rising steam around his skin. "The car has tracking stuff on it, right? What if they know we're here?"

"Gob," said Michael, "the car wasn't made to go after anybody. What that hospital did puts them in the wrong, not you."

"Are you sure?" Gob grabbed Michael's shirt and clung to him. "You sure they're not out there now, waiting to take me back to that place? Like I deserve?"

Michael was startled at first, but quickly composed himself as usual. He cradled his brother in his arms like a mother protecting her child, ignoring the bath water soaking his shirt. "No, Gob, that was horrible," he said, kissing Gob's brow. "The minute I found out they did that, I knew I had to look for you."

Gob was even more confused now; before the staff loaded him and the other patients into the medical van, they all seemed to know what they were doing: their lab coats and scrubs were ironed and spotless, they stayed up and worked extra shifts, they seemed unfazed when patients became unhinged and abusive, and they all knew the meaning of phrases like, "serotonin re-uptake inhibitor," "neuro-connectivity," and "patient protocol." Maybe the ones on watch for the night would break into laughter at a patient's suffering, but then that was just the way people were as far as he knew. And with a world like that, Gob figured, why wouldn't he choose to bend reality with a few magic tricks? Sure, they weren't real, but what "sane" person would bother to be real about anything?

"Are you sure they're not out there?" Gob looked up at Michael. "I mean, if they did this, who knows what else they'll do?"

Michael sighed and looked thoughtful. He looked back at Gob, put his hands on his shoulders, and said, "You want me to check just to make sure? If I see them, I'll send them away."

"I'd appreciate that, guy," Gob said, almost smiling again. "I mean, I know you don't believe me, but I appreciate it."

Michael got up and wiped away tears. "You relax in there, okay?" He went towards the door. "I'll protect you, don't worry."

Michael closed the door before Gob could thank him, so Gob just sat back in the tub and let himself sink. He was glad to be home and safe, but he knew that whatever it was that just happened would stay with him. Maybe he could find another place to pick up some Forget-Me-Nows, which he always used for things that would otherwise leave him scarred for life. 

Gob had been weaned off of his Forget-Me-Nows at the Austero Clinic before being put on a new medication. Unfortunately, that only made the memories worse. He panicked, became violent, and had to be transferred to the hospital that later dumped him and several other patients on Skid Row. Gob couldn't remember just how bad his behavior was, but it had to have been pretty frightening to somebody. He had thrown up many of the chemicals in his body, plus the sweat he accumulated out there on the sunny pavement must have taken out even more. Maybe that's why, when Michael got Gob home, the first thing he did was get a bath ready for him.

Gob splashed his face, trying to wash away tears and bad thoughts, but they both kept flowing. He didn't want to see himself as some cowering crybaby like Buster, though, so he just let his eyes and nose water by themselves while he scrubbed away the dirt and sweat from his body. He remembered Tobias's trick of crying in the shower whenever he needed to, though he kept silent so as not to be as loud as Tobias was when he did it. Gob splashed warm water on his face again until his eyes were red and his skin was raw. Even the act of feeling better was starting to hurt.

A noise downstairs startled Gob. He sat up, his eyes wide again, and tried to eavesdrop on Michael and if he was keeping his word to protect him. So, when he heard the words, "He's upstairs in the bathtub," he looked around the bathroom for something to use on whoever might be after him. Finding nothing but a toilet plunger, he gripped the handle tight and braced himself to attack. Sure, it was a lousy weapon, but maybe he could poke someone in the eye or something.

"Gob?" A familiar voice said before the door swung open. "Gob, there you are! What are you doing with that?"

Gob dropped the plunger and looked up, not caring that he was still naked. "Tony? Is it really you?"


	2. Chapter 2

Tony Wonder, Gob's one-time rival and current sometime lover, crouched down next to the bathtub and caught Gob in a tight embrace. Very tight.

"Tony!" Gob's voice was a harsh whisper. "I need air!"

"Oh, sorry." Tony released Gob and stared at him. "My God, what happened to you?" Tony seized Gob's hands and kissed them. "They said you disappeared from the hospital; that you escaped!"

"I did?" Gob said, confused again.

"They abandoned him," Michael said. "I didn't even know that was a thing they did until I overheard them talking outside during a cigarette break."

"Mike said something about Skid Row," said Gob, trying to think harder. "That's a band, right? Because that wasn't a concert I saw down there, though I do remember doing a lot of that stuff at concerts."

"Did they tell you he was there?" Tony asked Michael.

"Not directly," Michael said. "Can't say I'm surprised, though. I wish I could go back there and punch every one of them."

"Can I come, too?" Said Gob.

"Yeah, me too!" Said Tony. "I'll hold some of them down if you need me to. Maybe send a few doves after them."

"Look," Michael said with his hands up, "no one's going to be punching or sending any doves after anybody, okay? I just..." He put his hands in his pockets and grit his teeth. "I'm just protective of my brother, I guess, especially after the diagnosis. It explains everything, you know?" He covered his face. "I can't believe I didn't see it for myself."

"It's not your fault if you didn't know something, Mike," Gob said. "Is it?"

Michael lowered his hands and smiled. "No, it isn't. You're right. I guess I do take on too much responsibility."

"Thanks for saving me, though," said Gob.

"Don't mention it, pal!" Michael reached down and mussed up Gob's hair. He looked at Tony and said, "So, you think you can take him from here?"

Once Michael was gone, Tony embraced Gob again and fought back tears himself. "Who would do this to you?" Tony said in his ear. "Who would want you gone?"

"A lot of people," said Gob, "now that I think about it."

Tony kissed Gob on the mouth, sealing their lips while caressing Gob's back. He could tell that Tony wanted him now by how sweet his mouth tasted all of a sudden. Gob sucked on Tony's tongue, taking in more of that sweetness and getting more aroused from it. Tony put his hand on Gob's chest and down his side before releasing himself from Gob's mouth and kissing his neck.

"You're so beautiful!" Tony whispered to him between kisses. "I thought I lost you forever."

"I thought I lost you, too," Gob whispered back. "I thought they had you in concrete. I think I almost put myself in it on purpose."

Tony pulled away from their making out and looked at Gob with concern. "Why?"

"I..." Gob's stutter was coming on now. "I g-guess I thought I couldn't..."

"Couldn't what?" Tony said.

"I..." Gob swallowed. "I couldn't face you being gone, Tony. I thought it was my fault. They had me convinced." 

"Is that why you ended up at the clinic?" Tony said. "In Argyle's clinic?"

"It's not the first time I've been diagnosed." Gob rested his head on Tony's shoulder and stared at the floor. "I can't help it. I'm just crazy, Tony," he said. "So, if you wanna leave me..."

"I'm not leaving you." Tony raised Gob up and gave him that intense look of his. "Never again."

"What about Sally Sitwell?" Gob said.

"Sally?" Tony almost laughed. "You know, maybe I wasn't so much a fake gay magician as I was a..."

"A what?" Gob said.

"I don't know," said Tony. "A fake, fake gay magician? I guess I never actually think about what I am when I just feel like doing something."

"Same." Gob looked at him with his crooked smile. "Like you just do what feels good, right?"

"Right." Tony nodded his head. "Like it's all you know."

The two men were silent as they looked as far into each other as either of them could. Their eyes were locked together, forces engaged in an intricate dance that was closer than any word or touch could recreate. It was something that neither of them could hope to understand, but maybe that's what magic was.

"Finish your bath and get dressed." Tony put his hand on Gob's face and held his chin up. "I'm taking you with me."


	3. Chapter 3

Gob was so happy to be in Tony Wonder's car that he forgot to ask where they were going. He did ask about the strange fish smell in the back seat, which Tony explained was from a trick he was working on at the local aquarium where he would be weighted down in front of an audience looking in from the plate glass window. The fish that he had stored in the back seat earlier were supposed to be for the sharks.

"Sharks??" Gob said. "Wow, that's pretty hardcore!"

"Nah, these are just little hammerheads," said Tony. "And they give them drugs, or at least that's what they told me. Anyway, the real danger is that I might drown while I'm trying to escape. The cuffs are really part of a mechanism that I have memorized, and I just have to work it so it lets go of my wrists and ankles."

Gob didn't say anything, as his mind was busy with the image of Tony Wonder's nearly naked body chained up in what sounded like some kinky underwater bondage. 

"So," said Tony, "how did you go from being in the Austero Clinic to... Skid Row, was it?"

Gob shrugged. "Beats me."

"That's a band, right?" Said Tony.

"That's what I thought," said Gob. "But that sure wasn't a stage there. That was real."

"Bastards!" Tony was almost too distracted to notice what was in front of him. He slammed on his brakes at a crossroads, almost hitting a bicyclist who didn't have any reflectors on. 

"Jesus," he said, "is that guy reckless or what? It's like people just don't care these days, you know?"

"Tell me about it," said Gob, not really noticing. 

Gob's mind was racing in front of him again, so his thoughts were a blur as they flew past his grip. Sometimes he would catch a few thoughts, but only in fragments. Sometimes those fragments would come together and form a neat idea, and there were rare and beautiful moments when one of those ideas worked. This was not one of those moments.

"Where are we going?" Gob finally remembered to ask. "I mean, I'd sleep in the car with you, but the fish..."

"Don't worry, we're not sleeping back there this time," said Tony. "And, yeah, I gotta clean that out anyway for when I use this car as an Uber." He drove into a part of town where there were more streetlights. "But anyway," he continued, "I thought I'd spring for a place with room service. When's the last time you ate?"

"Two days ago," said Gob, "I think. Something like that."

"Yeah, I know that feeling," Tony said. "This time, though, we're gonna eat and sleep. How's that?"

"Sounds nice," said Gob. "We're having sex, too, right?"

Tony smiled. "We can have sex," he said, "or we can make love. Your choice. Sound good?"

"That sounds..." Gob said, smiling back. "Wonder-ful?" He reconsidered that joke. "I mean, good. Really good."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter with the sex in it. Sorry I didn't mention it earlier.

Indeed, Gob was very hungry when he and Tony ordered room service. He dug into his club sandwich, eating big bites and getting the mayonnaise all over his hands. He licked the mayonnaise off of his long fingers, not noticing how Tony was watching him.

"You look so hot when you do that," Tony said. 

"Hmmm?" Gob looked at a spot of mayo still on his thumb. "Oh, right, 'cause it looks like... yeah." He blushed, feeling the hot rush of color return to his face. 

"You're just so cute, Gob!" Tony smiled, entranced. "I still can't get over it. Where does that come from?"

"My parents," Gob said, "somehow. Mostly Dad, though I think I lucked out and got Mom's metabolism. Didn't get her face though. Michael did, you know, because he's perfect."

Tony shrugged. "He's fine, too, sure. I can see it." He lifted an eyebrow at Gob. "Not like you, though. You were one of my first guy crushes, you know that?"

Gob sat up at that one. "Really?"

"I could never tell you or anything," said Tony. "You were pretty straight, as far as I remember."

"There were some men," said Gob. "Nothing serious, though. Just getting each other off after a few drinks, sometimes not even leaving the bar first."

"Just doing what feels good?" Tony replied. "Like you said earlier?"

Gob nodded. "Mom and Dad pretty much gave up on disciplining me after a while, so I just went my own way. Just living in the moment, even if it meant that the next moment was in the emergency room."

"Yeah," said Tony, "I don't like hospitals."

"I really don't like them now," said Gob. "That wasn't a good one, and it was really far away. Beds fill up quickly these days, I guess."

"Speaking of beds," said Tony, "shall we?"

"Shall we what?" Gob said. "Oh, right."

With their plates put aside on the tray and the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door, the two men removed their shoes and socks and crawled into the hotel room double bed. Tony hovered over Gob with that wild look of his, his hands undoing the buttons on Gob's shirt and sweeping over his chest, back, and stomach. Gob's body yielded to Tony right away, as it had learned to do with so many partners over the years.

"You seem better already," said Tony. "Not that you don't need care or anything. You just need love, too."

"I need you, Tony," Gob said. "Even if we were in the car with the fish, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." 

Tony embraced and kissed Gob, prompting Gob to moan into his lips and wrap his arms around Tony's back. He loved how strong Tony felt, and the thought of being taken by him made the blood rush to his genitals right away. He felt Tony's hand stroke him between his legs, over his jeans, and he had to free his lips so he could breathe harder. Tony let go of him just long enough to remove his own shirt, releasing charred feathers and the smell of lighter fluid.

"Sorry about that," Tony said as he picked a feather off his skin and wiped away streaks of ash. "Had a mishap earlier. I'm okay, but the dove's pretty cooked."

"I did that once at a UC Berkeley gig," said Gob. "Animal rights activists spent the next several weeks threatening to do far worse to me."

"Those guys can be brutal," said Tony, tracing his fingers over Gob's abs. "So glad they didn't hurt you." He leaned down and planted kisses on Gob's chest, tickling him with his goatee.

"Mmmm, yes!" Gob put his head back and ran his fingers through Tony's hair. His eyes were closed, lashes fluttering as if he were in a dream state. His pelvis tilted itself upward, signaling to Tony how hard he was and how much he still needed to be touched.

Tony unbuttoned Gob's jeans, pulled the zipper down, and took off the garment along with the briefs. Gob slipped his arms out of his shirt and threw the shirt to the side. Tony followed, pulling off his pants and underwear and tossing them both aside, his eyes fixed on Gob the whole time. Once they were naked, Tony crawled up to Gob like a cat and put Gob's hand between his legs this time. Gob felt both startled and aroused by what he was feeling, even though he was no stranger to it.

"Are you sure you're okay enough for this?" Tony said, his hand cradling Gob's face. "I don't want to hurt you."

"I like it when it hurts," Gob said. "That way, I know I'm feeling it more."

"Oh, really?" Tony hovered over Gob's chest. "Do you like it when I do this?"

Tony bit down on Gob's nipple, just hard enough without breaking the skin. Gob gasped, moaned, and writhed, all but climaxing underneath Tony. When Tony let go and bit the other nipple, Gob broke into a sweat and cried out.

"J-jesus, Tony!" He said, eyes watering and sweat streaming along his body. "P-please, before I cum..."

Tony let go, took Gob's hips into his hands, and moved down further. His fingertip caught a thick droplet that squeezed from Gob's aching cock. Tony looked at the droplet, smiled, and brought it up to Gob's mouth. Gob sucked the finger, using his tongue to catch every last bit.

"So hot!" Tony pulled his hand away and bent down to take Gob's cock in his mouth, all the way down to the base.

"F-f-fuck..." Gob grabbed Tony's hair with both hands and moved his hips while still on his back. He watched Tony's head bob up and down, pleasuring Gob to the point where he thought he would really go insane this time. He let go of Tony's hair as he felt dizzy, bracing himself by gripping the bedsheets. His eyes squeezed shut and he let out a final growl from deep in his chest before feeling that release he needed. As he relaxed, tears rolled down his face. He looked back up to see Tony wiping them away before raining more kisses on him. 

Gob reached down and took Tony's cock into his hand. "My turn," he said.

"Mmmm, yeah," said Tony, sitting up and putting his legs over the side of the bed. "Just take whatever you can."

"I sure will," Gob said as he sat next to Tony. He leaned over Tony's lap and guided the head into his mouth, being careful not to gag just after eating. His lips and tongue played with the sensitive head until he felt his whole body crave Tony's essence more than anything. 

"Oh God, Yeah!" Tony fell back, his back collapsing onto the bed while Gob worked him over. He stroked Gob's back and muttered incoherent ramblings, almost whispering while possessed. As Gob took him down his throat, he gasped and said, "Mmmm, you're so fucking good at this!"

Gob cradled Tony's scrotum in his hand, mindful of the infamous dove bite that almost ruined their encounters. Indeed, Gob was an expert by now, after all those hazy nights in bars and strip clubs that started when strange men with extra money to burn complimented him on the shape of his lips. Now, though, he only wanted Tony: wanted him so badly that the taste of him almost made him hard again; wanted nothing more to be his possession, his fuck toy, in exchange for more of this. 

The thick fluid he wanted came in a few drops, then a spurt, then a splash that he welcomed down his throat like a hard drug. He let Tony's spent cock slide from his mouth, wetting his lips and giving him a chance to breathe again. This, he thought to himself, was all the medicine he could ever need.


	5. Chapter 5

Gob woke up from the sunlight streaming in the window onto his face. He turned over and looked at the bathroom door, listening to the sound of the shower running. Raising himself up on his elbows, he noticed that the trays were taken away and there was a new set of towels on the dresser. The idea of the staff having walked in and seen him under the covers, covered in nothing but sweat and semen, made him wish he still had his Forget-Me-Nows. He just had to remind himself that hotel staff were used to finding far worse things in people's rooms. At least, he thought, he wasn't some overstressed businessman who had just blown his brains out. Then, with that thought in mind, he remembered to call Michael.

"Hello, Mike?" He said into his phone, grateful it was still running after he forgot to charge it. "Just calling to say I'm not dead or anything."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that!" Michael said on the other end. "Where's Tony?"

"He's in the shower right now," said Gob. "He'll bring me back and... well, I'll go on disappointing everybody."

"Don't say that, Gob!" Michael was insistent, like he really cared or something. "Look, Mom and Dad are assholes, okay? Everybody knows that. I mean, maybe they have issues, too, but that was never your fault." 

There was a sound on Michael's end of keys being typed and papers being shuffled. Also, someone in the background was crying about their divorce and how there was no coffee.

"Anyway," Michael said, "as you can probably tell, it's a bit hectic here."

"Yeah, I can hear that," said Gob. "I guess everybody's got problems, right?"

"Well, yeah," said Michael, "but don't neglect yours because you're distracted by ours. Come to think of it, I should probably get my sciatica checked out."

"Your what checked out?" Gob said. 

Just then, Tony walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist. "Your turn, Gob," he said, "unless you want me to join you. I think there's room for both of us."

"Okay, Mike, good talk. Bye." Gob hung up.

Gob didn't know when he would see Tony again until he learned that the trick with the sharks didn't go so well. Gob visited Tony in the hospital and was relieved to hear that it was only a few lacerations and a temporary loss of consciousness. Gob went to Tony's bedside, kissed him, and then looked around.

"Sally's not here, is she?" Said Gob.

"No," said Tony, "she's having a fundraiser and needs to buy a dress. She has tons of them, but she needs a newer one."

"Sounds like Lindsay," Gob said. "Maybe those two should start dating, right?"

"Hey, why not?" Tony laughed. "Maybe we can have a foursome!"

"With my sister?" Said Gob.

"Oh right," said Tony. "Yeah, that wouldn't... sorry."

Gob smiled. "It's okay," he said, taking Tony's hand into his. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"How are you holding up?" Said Tony. "Speaking of feeling okay, I mean. Are you back on the meds?"

"No, they're trying different ones now." Gob rolled his eyes. "They're trying to see what works. I ran into those gay conversion people, though, and they said they can cure it."

Tony shook his head. "Don't do that," he said. "There's a lawsuit against them anyway. Another suicide."

"Shit!" Gob almost jumped to his feet. "Okay, that one's out."

"Good," said Tony. "I already thought I lost you."

"I thought I lost you, too," Gob said.

"Gob," said Tony, "maybe it's the painkillers making me say this, but I think I love you."

"Same," said Gob, looking down and sighing. "Maybe it's the meds with me, but... yeah I feel it."

"Maybe it'll pass though," said Tony.

"You think?" Gob looked back up.

"I hope so," said Tony. "Love sucks."

"Tell me about it," said Gob, who was unable to speak after that. Maybe some laughing and a few tears, but hopefully the doctors all knew what they were doing for both of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this wasn't too depressing for everybody. The show is so great at keeping a light tone, but I just don't see it in the friendly Ron Howard voice once I actually think about it.


End file.
